wrath of the Sea Queen (58 page)

After not
being able to locate his prize
among
the bookshelves on the ground floor, which w
ere
now considerably less tidy
than before he arrived
,
Sam
moved upstairs.  To his dismay,
he
found even larger bookcases holding vastly more volumes.  It was just his luck that th
ese two were avid
read
ers
.  There must be several hundred, if not a thousand, books in the collection of bookcases throughout the house. 
Sam
went through each one, but did not find the book he
wanted
.  He
did
not actually expect to find it out in the open. 
The book he sought w
as
ancient and
valuable.  If the lady brought it here at all, it would be
well
hidden. 

Sam knew the lady
had
survived
because h
e
had seen
her on
c
e since the
incident
.  She
came
into the courtroom with Captain Erickson and left with him immediately afterward. 
Sam
remembered her
limited
words, along with those of the captain, which
combined to
seal his fate th
e
day
of his trial
. 

"
Yes, your Honor.  The chief took an interest in my case when I went to the station to give a statement about the men who
broke into my house and
attempted to
abduct
me.  He
came to
the hospital
when I was taken there as well, though I did not speak with him that time.
"
  Her words were few, but damaging
.  They
plac
ed
Sam in the wrong places at the right times
.  The jury felt sympathy
for everything
C
a
eli
endured and decided to punish him for it.
  When she left the witness stand,
C
a
eli
didn't even look at Sam.  If she had, she might have read the blatant hatred in
his
glare
as it fo
llowed her out
of the courtroom
.

Her testimony laid the groundwork for Captain Erickson's damning evidence.

"
I discovered that Chief Matthews
helped
arrange for a suspect's escape from custody and for evidence to disappear.  He also put a tracking device on my jacket, which enabled Mrs. Harding's abductor to intercept us on the way to a safe house.  His actions endangered her life and aided the criminal intentions of the man who pa
id
him.
"
 
Ben produced all the supporting physical evidence and related documentation as confirmation of his words. 
Sam expected no less from Ben.  Over the years, Sam developed a healthy respect for Ben's skill
and integrity
.  He knew that Ben would not miss any of the details and would not rest until Sam was appropriately punished for his actions.

Ever s
ince the
jury convicted him, in record
-breaking
time
, Sam had been living in hell.
 
Sam
endured
cruel torments from inmates he
had
helped put away.  Guards,
whose loyalty Sam
betrayed by the deeds exposed during
the
trial, turned a blind eye to
his
suffering.  It was a
nightmare!
 
It
took
nearly six months before his ex-brother-in-law could arrange
his escape
.
 
Sam intended that both
C
a
eli
and Captain Erickson would pay
dearly
for t
heir roles in putting him behind bars.

Sam pushed those thoughts
out of
his mind and returned to the task at hand.  He assumed that
C
a
eli
returned to her home, this house,
when
the ordeal was over
and had been keeping a low profile to avoid the lingering media interest
.  If
C
a
eli
brought the book with her, as he
had been
told,
then
she would have
hidden
it somewhere safe.

Recalling the details from the police report
after
her attempted abduction, Sam remembered that she hid from the two thugs until Captain Erickson and his men arrived.  The
specific
location of that hiding place
was
not listed in any of the reports, which meant that she probably never disclosed it.  She was a smart lady, even under duress.  Sam was
,
nonetheless
,
confident that he could figure it out.  He
needed
to think like her to discover the secret
hiding place
. 
T
here were clues to its existence, if
only
he could
decipher
them. 
If
he
could
locate the place where she hid
that night
, then he would
likely
find the book
in the same
location
.

He mentally reviewed the notes
retrieved from
Ben's personal files.  Mrs. Harding c
a
me
down
the
stairs to meet the officers.  Of course! 
Sam was
wast
ing
his time searching the ground floor, though it would suit his purpose to make this look like a
routine
burglary. 
T
he hiding place was
obviously
on the second floor. 
One of the would-be abductors
had been
found dead
in her
bedroom
closet
.  I
t looked like a struggle
took
place in there.  Excellent!  Now
Sam
was thinking properly.  The
re must be a panic room built into
the closet.  The guy must have been getting too close and paid for it with his life.

Sam silently went up the stairs and turned to the left, entering the bedroom and moving into a large
, walk-in
closet
also on his left
.  He glanced around at the clothes hanging neatly.  Nothing seemed unusual or out of place
, except for the fact that she had not yet discarded her late husband's wardrobe
, if he truly was dead
. 
Sam heard rumors that her husband had been found alive, but could not confirm them from his jail cell. 
If
Vin
was dead
,
then
C
a
eli was still suffering that loss, and
Sam
found that thought
gratify
ing. 
Sam
wanted her to suffer. 
Regardless, he would learn the truth when he arrived in Hawaii. 
But, again, he was letting himself get distracted
from the task at hand
.

Naturally, the
secret
door would be concealed. 
Sam
began on the far left and tested each panel, knocking and listening for holl
ow sounds. 
On the back wall,
Sam
located
it.  He pushed all the clothes to
one side
and looked for a release mechanism. 
There
must be
a quick and easy
way to enter the room.

After several minutes of searching, he finally pushed on the correct
section of wall
to open the door.  Sam
had to
duck down to step into the small room. 
A
cot,
a
chair, and
a
bookcase
were revealed
within.  On the bookcase
to his right
,
a medium-sized box
caught his eye
.  Sam walked over and carefully lifted the lid.  Inside
,
he saw the linen wrappings that
were
described to him.  They would be covering the
aged
book.  This
is w
hat he
came to
retrieve. 
Sam
replaced the lid and pulled the box from the shelf, knowing he could not directly touch its contents.

Sam
looked around the small room once more
. 
There was a
cell phone on
a small table, a backpack
on the cot, and a small blanket folded and laying across a pillow.  He admitted to himself that the couple's attempt to be prepared was admirable.  Unfortunately, it had not been enough to keep
C
a
eli
completely safe.